John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design, University of Toroto

PURE SPACE: public space transformation in Latin
American slums includes 21 projects located in informal settlements
within the cities of Lima, Medellin, Guayaquil, Valparaiso, Caracas
and Rio de Janeiro. The projects are innovative in the ways that
they have leveraged and consolidated public space, through their
investment in larger urban or environmental concerns.

Slums are home to between 30% and 50% of the
inhabitants of Latin American cities. Within these settlements, a
shortage of public space is the norm. Often, the ratio of public
space per capita is 10 times less than in more established,
formally disposed parts of the city. Any justification for building
public space appears trivial when compared to securing basic needs
such as potable water, sanitation, better accessibility and
personal security. Yet, the compromised social cohesion that
characterizes many slums can be directly associated with a lack of
spaces for mutual recognition and reconciliation that are
fundamental to the well-being and security of a community. The
result is too often poor communal organization, crime and
violence.

While several of the projects were successful in
securing funding for the creation of public spaces within these
informal settlements, a number were affiliated with large
infrastructure investments or were related to the need for
environmental conservation, sanitation or risk management. A few
projects were the result of more conventional approaches, realized
through new buildings or pavement projects. And lastly, rather than
through the physical transformation of a place, some public spaces
emerged from the imposition of an activity or program that served
to alter the way that it was perceived and used. The projects in
this exhibit were not necessarily resolved with a primary concern
for design considerations, at least in the most conventional sense
of its role in professional work. Their merit instead lies in the
fact that the projects were able to effectively justify an economic
and community investment in public space, while responding to the
implicit social challenges associated with their implementation.
The creative design approaches seen here demonstrate that it is
possible to realize projects that appear to be undermined by
social, bureaucratic, logistical, or purely programmatic
considerations. As such, the projects may serve as exemplars for
the design of other infrastructure, preservation and sanitation
projects in communities throughout Latin America and beyond.